European Union leaders have announced a 4.7 billion euro ($5.1 billion) investment package in South Africa to support green energy transition and vaccine production at their first bilateral summit in seven years.

European Union leaders announced a 4.7 billion euro ($5.10 billion) investment package during a visit to South Africa on Thursday, at a time when both are on worse terms with the United States than they have been for decades.

Senior European Union officials were in South Africa for a summit Thursday with President Cyril Ramaphosa that centres on bolstering trade and diplomatic ties as both feel the impact of the Trump administration's confrontational foreign policy.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the European Union’s €4.7 billion Global Gateway Investment Package aimed at supporting strategic investment projects.

The European Union and South Africa are holding their first summit since 2018, the latest step toward shoring up a shaky relationship in a world where both are currently the target of US President Donald Trump’s capricious politics.

President Ramaphosa highlighted South Africa’s commitment to further discussions on a new EU investment package aimed at boosting economic collaboration.

The eighth EU-South Africa summit will be held in Cape Town this week, with both sides seeking strategic and reliable partners in the wake of hostilities by the United States.

US President Donald Trump has stunned European leaders with his pivot towards Russia in the Ukraine war, upending US policy since Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. His staunchly pro-Israel stance has brought him into conflict with South Africa over its genocide case against Israel at the World Court.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday announced a new 4.7 billion euro ($5.10 billion) investment package for South Africa on a visit to the country. Von der Leyen said the Global Gateway investment package was to support a just energy transition,